Tanning apparatus



A; S. JONES.

TANNING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR, 22, 1919.

ented Janf4,'1921.

Pat

p5 W. A 5. W54

UNITEDSTA'IES P ENT orrlca ADRIAN S. J ONES, OF REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA.

TANNING APPARATUS.

Application filed April 22,

To (4% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADRIAN S. Jonns, a citizen of the United States, residin at Redwood City, in the county of San Nfateo and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tanning Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for tanning leather. The object of the invention is to provide an ap paratus so constructed that a suitable number of skins, suspended in a vat containing liquid, may be automatically moved through the liquid and during such movement may be so folded as to open the pores of the skins to permit the tanning liquid to enter said pores in order to better preserve the skins, that is, so that the tanning action of the liquid on the skins may be as effective as possible.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a broken perspective view of my invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of a ball-bearing carriage.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates a tanning vat having two portlons, a deep portion 2 and a shallow portion 3. On the upper edges of the side walls 4 of said vat, (one only being here shown), can travel balls 6 mounted in recesses in the under sides of side membes 7 of a carriage 8. Between, and extending above and below, said side members 7 are contained vertical members 9 which are supported from said side members by tie-rods 11 extending around the bottoms of said side members. Slidable in vertical slideways 12 in said vertical members are plates 13, through holes 14 in which plates extend round bars 16, to which are connected the upper ends of portions 17 of skins. Said plates are held in any desired position in said guideways by means of round bars 18 which extend through opposite holes 19 in the plates and the projecting ends of which rest upon 1ongitudinally extending members 21 of the carriage, between transversely extending memhere 22, said longitudinally and transversely extending members being both supported by the side members 7 The transyersely extending member 22 on the front side of said vertical members 9, and also a transversely extending member 23 on the rear side of said vertical members but at a higher elevation, are connected by oblique tie-rods 25 and to under sides of said transversely ex- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 31, 1921.

1919. Serial No. 291,908.

tending members 22 are connected pairs of fingers 2 1, 26, of which the fingers 24L curve upwardly and the fingers 26 curve 'downwardly. Between the fingers of the several pairs are sprocket chains 27, which travel around front and rear sprocket wheels 28, 29, on transverse shafts 31, 32, in suitable bearings33, extending upward from extensions 36, 37, from the side walls of the tank One of said shafts, as the shaft 31, carries also a pulley 38 by which it may be driven from any suitable source of power. Closely adjacent to the corner 41, dividing the shallow from the deep portion of the tank, are rollers 42, 43, which facilitate the movement of the leather sheets around said corner.

As the sprocket chains 27 travel continuously, short bars 44 attached to said chains engage alternately the fingers 24:, 26. In

traveling with said chains in their lower position, said bars engage the upwardly curved fingers 24% and move the carriage in one direction, when the chains travel around said sprocket wheels. said bars 44 leave the fingers 24, and as the bars travel with the chains in their upper position, they engage the downwardly curved fingers 26 and thus move the carriage in the opposite direction. Thus the carriage and the skins suspended therefrom are given a horizontal reciprocating movement. When the skins are hanging down in the deep portion of the tank, they hang directly downward, but when the carriage is moving over the shallow portion of the tank, the skins hang partly in the shallow portion and partly in the deep portion of the tank, less and less of the skins entering the deep portion of the tank as the carriage moves toward the end of the shallow portion remote from the deep portion. lVhen the carriage reaches said end of the shallow portion, said skins extend for the greater part of their lengths upon the bottom of the shallow portion. When the carriage returns, the skins are bent or folded. This folding of the skins is very advantageous as it enables the tanning agent in the vat to enter the pores of the skins and thus more eifectually tan the leather.

1. A tanning vat, a carriage, means for reciprocating the carriage horizontally, means for suspending from said carriage sheets of material, and an obstruction in the vat against which said sheets impinge and fold upon as they reciprocate in a horizontal direction therein.

2. A tanning vat, a carriage, means for reciprocating said carriage horizontally, means for vertically adjustably suspending from said carriage sheets of material, a shelf-like portion raised upon the bottom of said vat arranged to impinge against said sheets in their reciprocating movement and to fold the same thereon.

3. A tanning vat, a carriage, means for reciprocating said carriage, means for suspending upon said carriage sheets of material, a shelf like obstruction in said vat raised upon the bottom thereof against which said sheets impinge in their movement, said obstruction having a vertical and horizontal surface, and rollers pivotally supported upon said obstruction nearer the juncture of said surfaces.

4:. A tanning vat, deeper at one portion than at another, a carriage, and means, vertically adjustable on said carriage, for suspending from said carriage sheets'of material of greater length than the depth of the shallower portion of said vat, means for reciprocating said carriage to cause the sheets of material to move horizontally from one portion of the vat to the other and into contact with the shallow portion.

5. A tanning vat, deeper at one portion than another, a carrier, means for suspending from said carrier sheets of material, means for reciprocating said carrier, comprising an endless chain, vertically disposed sprocket wheels around which the chains travel, bars on said chain, and devices immediately below the lower portion and above the upper portion of said chain re spectively against which said bars abut, each device extending toward the adjacent portion of said chain,

ADRIAN S. JONES. 

